I’m not exactly an A.D.D. poster child. You know that I’m pretty determined to accomplish things I start. But there are times when I try things and then move to something else, leaving a task a bit incomplete. Or I do just enough that it was enjoyable, but not perfect. That doesn’t seem to bother me much. I love the joy of doing something new, and especially something that nobody else has ever done. I’m fine with trying something and leaving it a bit rough around the edges, as long as I learned enough for my own purposes. [Read more…]
Happy New Year
“Experience is not what happens to you; it’s what you do with what happens to you.” – Aldous Huxley
Another year will soon start. Lucky to have made it through this one. Huxley’s thought (above) is certainly what I feel tonight. This past week I’ve gone through a fascinating medical procedure (where the sedative didn’t do as I had expected…and so I had some experiences I had not forecast), and I’ve written more music (extended both Beings of Light and Darkness and my Dakini Dances). I want to focus on more music every day. So for the last day of this year I’m going to commit to focusing on writing new music that whole day. And on into whatever my future is. [Read more…]
Bringing Meaning to Light
My latest composition Beings of Light and Darkness is meant to suggest the conflicting information, processes and feelings of being diagnosed with cancer, going through chemo therapy and surgery, and recovering functionality. “Light” and “Dark” are used figuratively in describing events and feelings.
Light, as you know, is energy. Photons flying through space. Our sun, like most stars, emits photons, which rush outward from its surface, and many of them strike the Earth, where they warm our clouds, oceans and surface. But without humans, those photons are just energy transfer mechanisms. They have no inherent meaning. [Read more…]
My Big “Summer Vacation”
As a kid, I had the summer off from school. There were, of course, many things to do during the summer, and I always had some kind of adventure. The question most asked on my first day back in school was “What did you do during the summer break?”
Well, the summer of 2016 was pretty remarkable. The day before SFCM graduation, May 19th, I had a minor surgical procedure to investigate and treat some red spots in my bladder. They had been there for a couple of months, but didn’t seem to be a problem. A day or so later, we knew these were not just innocent red spots, but were accompanied by a rare invasive and aggressive bladder cancer. [Read more…]
Last day at ye ole’ SFCM PSD
We have wrapped the last day of the 2015-2016 TAC PSD at San Francisco Conservatory of Music. What happened? Here are a few highlights of this journey. (Hear my “student” music online—start at red7.zone)
- Became well-acquainted with fellow-travelers in the PSD program. They are all good composers, and going on this journey with them was an honor for me, as I came in the least prepared of them all.
- “Held my own” in terms of being able to write tolerable music for the assignments. Well maybe with the exception of one or two pieces where I started out pretty well and went downhill.
- Learned that I have a lot more to learn about “music theory” — which isn’t really a theory at all.
- Learned a boatload about using instruments I had never written for, even in my dreams. Strings, brass, and even a little about percussion.
- Learned I can’t hear high frequencies well enough to be a mixerman. (The Mixerman story is a blast—read it.)